Strategic Design

5 Steps Behind a Successful Website Design Project

Web design encompasses a collection of different skills, from copywriting and typography to layout and design. But in order to combine all these elements together and achieve successful results, you must have a clear direction. You must think strategically.

What Is Strategic Design?

Strategic design is the combination of your goals in every aspect of the design process. You are not just designing a simple user interface that looks good and is easily usable. You’re designing an interface that will help you accomplish your objectives.

Many websites out there look great and show off all the latest design trends yet often fail in accomplishing their intended function. Design trends give you fresh inspiration and new techniques, but the execution needs to be well thought out, intelligent and focused.

Web design is all about creating a user interface that is usable and accessible, exudes the right feeling and vibe, and conveys the intended functions that are in sync with its goals and objectives. Strategic design is all about identifying those goals and using them to guide the entire design process.

1. Establish Your Goals

One of the first things you need to do before starting work on any web design project is to be clear about your goals. What are you trying to achieve with the new website or redesign? What is its main purpose? Remember… a website isn’t just a piece of art; it’s an interface that serves a function. Whatever that function is, the design must focus on fulfilling it.

2. Identify Your Audience

Along with your goals, your audience also plays a role in how a website should look and function. Who that audience is will not only influence the general look of the website but also things like imagery and font size. For example, usability should play a larger role than say flare for some older less tech savvy audiences.

3. Determine Your Brand Image

Don’t get caught up in trying to implement all the latest design trends without first knowing and understanding what sort of image should be conveyed. Think about color. Think about the emotions you wish to elicit. Understand that your design should embody the personality and character of your brand to make the right impression on your visitors.

4. Goal-Driven Design Direction

Once a purpose, goals, audience, and brand are established you’re now set to begin implementing your plan. But how do you make design decisions in line with your strategy? Let’s take an example of a website that has an entertainment focus. If that is the case, then create an entertaining experience. Use a lot of color and imagery. If your website’s focus is more informational in nature then readability and usability are higher priorities so create a design that doesn’t distract the user from digesting the content.

5. Measure Your Results

Measure your success. This is most important as until you test how well your design performs, you won’t know whether or not it is effective in fulfilling your goals. Tools like Google Analytics provide valuable data on how your website is being used, what links people click on most, and provide the ability to track conversions.

Most of this is common sense right? You’re building your website for a specific purpose so it should of course achieve that purpose through its design. Well… It is actually very easy to start to lose track of your goals and while you may have created something beautiful that uses all the latest design trends it falls short in accomplishing its intended results. You can avoid falling into those types of traps by strategically thinking through every design decision. Don’t just build a beautiful website; build a website that works.

About Streng Agency

Streng Agency is a full service integrated advertising agency that excels in all aspects of brand marketing, from traditional media to digital media to website design to marketing events and more. Our full attention is on delivering the best results for your business and your brand. Streng is where business meets creative. Business and brand results drive our efforts to create consumer awareness across all media tactics.